Ahead of two scheduled meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the next three weeks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on the latter in Moscow on Monday. Putin told Jaishankar that among the areas of bilateral cooperation with India, Russia is giving priority to energy, fertilisers, nuclear energy and high technology sectors.Modi and Putin are expected to meet at the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) summit in Kyrgyzstan on August 31-September 1, and again at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13.Underlining the increase in bilateral trade between the two sides, Putin credited Modi for giving “personal attention” to the relationship. “Your visit today underscores the level of relations that has long been established between Russia and India, over decades. We continue to work together in virtually all areas. This includes governmental ties, inter-parliamentary ties, and economic cooperation,” Putin told Jaishankar.“I am pleased to note that our trade turnover has increased this year. While it declined slightly last year, it’s growing this year, and this is partly, and perhaps primarily, thanks to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), who is devoting his personal attention to developing Russian-Indian relations,” he said.Intensifying trade and economic relations has been identified as a priority area by both the leaders, who had set a bilateral trade target of US$ 100 billion by 2030. Bilateral trade between the two sides touched a record high of US$ 68.7 billion in FY 2024-25; it was US$ 59.863 billion in FY 2025-26.“At the beginning of our conversation, I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes to Modi. I hope to see him soon, as we planned, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation very soon. Our schedule is such that we will probably be able to meet again this year,” Putin said.Modi is expected to travel to Uzbekistan for a bilateral visit on August 29-30, and then to Kyrgyzstan for the SCO leaders’ summit on August 31-September 1.Story continues below this adPutin also gave a sense of the discussions held between Jaishankar and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov under the Inter-Governmental Commission, noting that various issues including energy, fertiliser supplies, nuclear energy and high-technology cooperation were on the agenda.“One of these issues is not only energy — it is, of course, fertiliser supplies. We are doing everything to address this issue for Indian farmers, for agriculture; we are increasing these supplies and are ready to do so further. And all other issues related to nuclear energy, cooperation in high-tech sectors, and other areas — they are all on the agenda, and… progressing quite steadily,” Putin said.Jaishankar conveyed Modi’s wishes to Putin, and said he had sent a “personal communication”. “We had a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission. I think overall we have a good report to give to you. I think our economic cooperation, trade, energy, fertilisers, nuclear, and other dimensions as well — I’d be pleased to speak about them in detail. Overall, I think our economic cooperation has grown very significantly,” he said.“Prime Minister Modi looks forward to meeting you at the SCO Summit, then welcoming you to India for the BRICS Summit, and, in due course, as per your mutual convenience, having the annual summit, so we have a very strong picture of cooperation to present,” Jaishankar said, addressing Putin.Story continues below this adIndia is set to host the BRICS leaders’ summit in New Delhi on September 12-13; Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are among those expected to attend.Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Russia (August 23-24). Earlier in the day, he co-chaired the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) with Manturov.While the Indian side included India’s Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar and Joint Secretary, Eurasia Division, Mayank Singh, the Russian side was represented by Manturov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maksim Oreshkin, and Aide to the President of Russia Yury Ushakov.The India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) has two divisions: the Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), co-chaired by Jaishankar and Manturov; and the Military and Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC), headed by the defence ministers of the two countries.